Chapter Text
The binding spell had made him weak, and centuries upon eons had started to slowly erode his mind into soup. The once defined and even defiant edges of who he was lost their shape and began to bleed into the demon Abaddon until he could hardly tell where he ended and the other began.
After a while he’d started to enjoy being a passenger to the wild shenanigans the demon got up to. Though the rough housing was rarely fun. The immortal demon had a bit of a bad habit of being careless with their shared body, and not fueling it as appropriately as he should. Not to mention the chains people kept putting them in. In life Isaac had struggled to conform, frequently chastised by his parents for not behaving as one of God's children should. And while Isaac had tried to conform, Abaddon made it very clear he couldn’t give less of a shit. The freedom that came with Abaddon’s choices was amazing, but the backlash from others around them always felt … reminiscent of his own life.
And yet, there was the girl. Just a human girl with a talent for which craft. A demonized art in its own right it made sense that she could form a friendship with the demon. And the connection and the relief that came from being seen and understood covered their shared mind like a warm blanket. Most recently, Isaac had been noticing a subtle shift in Abaddon’s reactions to the girl, and with the extra thinking room granted by their older body Isaac was starting to re-establish his voice.
“You know we love her right?”
Abaddon choked on his Fruit Loops, milk dribbling from his nose in burning tears. His face inflamed, body already careening back from the breakfast table and down an abandoned hall. He gripped the sides of his head, eyes wider than saucers.
-
Esther pulled her bowl away from Abaddon, raising a brow at his speedy escape. "Dude, if you're gonna choke hairballs, can you please do it on the rug?!" She shouted after him.
Ben had lifted his plate up and away, grimacing at the splatters on the table. "Esther, your demon is so gross. Go make sure he doesn't die in a hard to reach place, please?"
"Yeah yeah. Abaddon!" She abandoned her breakfast, following after her closest friend. The Undervale was huge, and prone to changing some of its halls, but Esther was mostly confident she could follow him. "Abaddon, c'mon, what happened? Was there another cult in the yard!?"
-
Abaddon sat in the unlit fireplace, logs stabbing his butt and soot painting every inch of his upper body as he repeatedly bonked his head against the stone chimney. It was one thing to feel Isaac’s presence again, it was ANOTHER THING ENTIRELY for the little coffin to be making declarations about how they or HE or ugh, how anyone felt about anything!
-
"Abaddon? Abaddon, come on, where are you!" Esther called, beginning to wonder if she should start carrying bits of his hair for tracking spells. She cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting into the nearest vent grate.
"Abaddon, I'll get Uncle Nathan to find you!" She wasn't sure if that was a threat or not, but her uncle was good at finding the demon, like he had some sort of radar for seeking Abaddon out.
-
Abaddon growled as Esther’s voice carried down the hall, and if he growled loud enough to be heard, who's to say if it was on purpose or accident. Why bother to follow after him at all? Even if her attention was nice, why would she bother?
”probably because she fancies you in return,”
”AAAHH!!” Abaddon slammed his head into the chimney hard enough to draw blood.
-
"Wow, you sound pissed." Esther leaned into the room, carefully coming around the fireplace. "Something happen at breakfast?" She crouched down, reaching out to wipe the blood off his face with her sleeve, trying to think if anything weird or abnormal had happened. It all came up blank, just cereal and talking until Abaddon sprayed milk and ran out.
"Okay, that's pretty new. What was that for?"
-
“Accursed voices of the damned, howl fallacies in the catacombs of my mind, the likes of which I thought I had long since escaped,” he bemoaned. He paused his head bonking, long enough to let her wipe the soot and blood from his forehead, lest he smack her hand against the wall.
“Also spitting milk out one’s nose really hurts, what the hell.”
”hold her hand,” Isaac pleaded. Before he could have his own thought Abaddon’s borrowed hand shot out and grabbed Esther by the wrist. Ok great asshole now what?
-
"Are you being tormented by the voices of souls you tortured?" Esther guessed, tilting his face to the light and squinting at where it bled. "That's gonna leave a mark."
She jumped when he grabbed her wrist, blinking at his hand slowly. "Hey. Uh, you want me to stop wiping the blood off you or something?" Abaddon didn't often just reach out and grab her, unless he wanted her to follow him or get away.
-
The inside of their shared mind whirled around its cramped confines like a rabid tornado, two souls as opposite ends of a magnet bashing against their organs. Abaddon’s breath quickened and brought his other hand to his mouth as he coughed up blood. Suddenly his red eyes turned a honey golden brown. His gaze turned from its frantic scattered pace to lock into Esther’s eyes and his face softened.
“Hi,” came a voice not unlike the one Abaddon used when he was making fun of “normal human boys”, before the red irises returned and he full on vomited into his lap.
“…anyway bye!” and he crawled up the chimney.
-
"What...the fuck?" Esther craned her neck to look up the chimney, shouting after him. "Abaddon, hey, where are you going!?" Esther sneezed at the soot, sitting back on her heels. Honey brown eyes, a soft voice, throwing up blood? Was Abaddon cursed now?
She looked at the blood soaking the logs, sighing as she stood to get a trash bag for them. Almost definitely cursed, he didn't throw up that much blood ever. When she was done with the logs, she started knocking on every vent grate, calling Abaddon's name as she searched the whole ground floor for him.
-
Ok so Isaac was back -
”I have been here the whole time. I am just louder now.” AMAZING! Fantastic! Abaddon climbed until he popped out of the top of the chimney like a regular Krampus, scarring off a gaggle of raggedy birds in the process. The gentle late fall breeze was nice on his over heated skin, though the sticky clothes would need to be dealt with eventually. Abaddon hummed, it was getting a bit late in the season to rise off in the river.
”Oh wow, we might actually have to take a bath in a tub! What a horror!”
“Since when are you sassy?” Isaac laughed in the back of his mind and Abaddon felt the emotion echo through their bones.
“So what the hell was that?”
”…”
“No fuck off, you do not get to go quiet on me after that!”
”I don’t know…”
-
So he wasn't on the first floor, the basement, the second floor, OR the attic. Jesus, how many hiding places could one demon have??
"Try the roof." Ben suggested. "Mom banned us from using it because it still doesn't have railings after she was nearly murdered by that hippie ghost up there. You know he loves his unsafe perches."
"Ben, you're a genius!" Esther slapped his back, boots thudding up the stairs. She shoved open the roof hatch, squinting in the morning sun. "Abaddon? Hey, Abaddon! I wanted to see you again, you up here?!" She shouted, careful not to let the hatch shut behind her.
-
“Ack!” Abaddon flinched and turned towards the sound. “By what lack of logic have you followed me up here! Witches only fly in myth and I have no desire to be haunted by yet another Freeling!” In the back of his heart he felt the old pang of remorse that came every time he was reminded of Nathan’s passing. This too was surely Isaac’s fault, and not his own emotional reaction.
-
Esther winced at the reminder of Nathan's current spectral existence, leaning on part of the remaining railing.
"You ran off so fast, I was worried about you. Your eyes changed colors, you vomited enough blood for like, three people, you talked kinda funny, then you ran." She sighed at the breeze cutting through the tree, tugging her jacket closer.
"Did something in the woods curse you Abaddon? Cause I can try uncursing you, but it might be pretty rough."
-
And she continued to not listen to his warnings about being on the roof.
”that is what you like about her,” surprise singular pronoun but ok.
“Are these things not known for being a common occurrence with me?” He narrowed his eyes glaring daggers at her leaning posture as well as the railing like he could simply intimidate it into being sturdier. He sighed. Esther was smart -”something we like about her,” - there was no way she was letting this go as normal demon bullshit. “I am not any more of less cursed than usual, it has just… taken different form.”
-
She huffed at his glare, relenting and getting off the railing. "No, that's not in your range of normal." Esther put air quotes around the word. "You don't have brown eyes, you never pull out the cute kid voice unless you're making fun of someone, and the last time that much blood came out of you I was eleven. Normal left the building a while ago."
Esther sat cross legged, leaning back on her palms. "So you're still Abaddon stuck in a pilgrim, but the whole banished into your vessel is changing how it presents?" She tried to guess.
-
“This building has never held a normal in the first place. I understood that analogy!” He announced, knowing it would do little in the way of diverting the conversation. He relaxed when she sat down, and felt a piece of Isaac uncurl in tandem.
”Pilgrim? Is that what history calls us?”
Abaddon had to fight his way through the two different questions running through his head. “To put it simply, yes.” He held his adult sized hand out in front of his face. “The vessel itself has changed. I suppose it only makes sense that my connection to it would shift as well.”
-
"Well what shifted?" Esther got up again, shuffling to climb over the railing and onto the roof itself. "It must have been big, right? Wait, are you shaking the vessel loose since you're older now?"
That would be massive, and probably a problem if Abaddon couldn't return to his true form. But that didn't seem quite right for the two times he had run off with no explanation for how weird he was being. Her boots skidded a bit on the shingles before she caught her footing, holding out her arms to keep her balance.
-
“Shaking? I am not-“ Abaddon lunged to the side, arm out ready to catch the other. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” Abaddon rolled his eyes, both at Esther’s carelessness and Isaac’s attempt at an expletive. “For God's sake witch, come here.” He gestured her over to sit in his lap.
”not with this bloodied vest!”
Abaddon grumbled and unbuttoned the vest and threw it over the edge of the roof like a petulant child.
”… you’re going to want that back,”
“Well then I will-“ Abaddon stopped himself, realizing he was replying to his head mate out loud.
-
Esther froze, staring at Abaddon. "You used religious names." That wasn't right, Abaddon went crazy if any of them even whispered Jesus around him, and forget saying God.
She shuffled back, gaze darting between him and the roof hatch. "You used religious names and you called me witch." Abaddon had never done that either, just called her a witch like that. Shit was this actually Abaddon, or was this an imposter? She could only think of one test that wouldn't hurt him if he was Abaddon.
"Hey Abaddon, remember our handshake?" Esther held out her hand, pointer and pinky extended. "Shemon-"
-
”oh… was it my actions that upset her?”
Abaddon ignored Isaac in favor of finishing the handshake before Esther really did fall off the roof. “Demon,” he touched her fingers with his matching ones, clapped her hand and then brought his pointer fingers up to his head like horns. It was a silly ritual but it was theirs. Abaddon liked rituals, and it was rare for people to want one with him. “Now would you pick between sitting within arms reach of me or on the awning?”
-
Okay, definitely Abaddon. She grinned as she made her own finger horns before she sat next to him, holding firmly onto the roof.
"I'm sitting, I'm sitting. So, what was that?" She gestured loosely at his, everything. "That calling me a witch, using the big J's name. Last time Ben used it around you, you nearly rearranged his organs before hiding in the vents for almost two days." While impressive, it definitely meant him speaking weirdly was an even bigger red flag than Abaddon's normal existence was.
-
He huffed. “I am a creature of God. Just because the bastard's name leaves a bad taste in my mouth does not mean I cannot speak of him or his kin.” Abaddon wasn’t quite sure why he was dogging answering her question. Maybe because he still couldn’t clearly tell what was Isaac and what was his own thought. Just because the little nerd had started thinking again didn’t mean their minds had suddenly unmelted.
”Maybe it is because you do not want her to treat you differently?”
-
"Well, good to know." She nudged him with her knee. "That doesn't answer my question. And you can't distract me." Esther warned, blowing hair from her face. "So, what was that?"
After asking, she paused. She turned to him, brow furrowed. "Was that, your vessel?"
-
Excitement exploded from Isaac like a dazzling firework. It was the most emotion Abaddon had felt from him in years. Their jaw creaked open slowly, as Abaddon turned his head away, and from beyond his control he felt his voice say- “Isaac.” Abaddon relented. Slowly he took a breath, and turned back to look at the tree line. “His name is Isaac. He really wants you to know that.” For some reason this was hideously embarrassing. Like being trapped in a body he couldn’t fully control was somehow equivalent to pissing his pants.
-
"Isaac." Esther repeated. "Okay. Well, hi to Isaac. Uh, question. Why is Isaac suddenly popping up? I thought your presence, I dunno, obliterated his soul or something. That he just, didn't exist in that body anymore."
Morbid guess probably, but could you blame Esther for thinking that was what happened when an insanely powerful demon took over a little kid?
-
”Can I talk to her? Abaddon! Can I? Can I talk to her? Please oh please let me!”
“I don’t know how,” he hissed to his mind, under his breath. Abaddon scrubbed angrily at his face. “Souls don’t get ‘obliterated’; they are pure energy only to be preserved in the afterlife or transformed into their next life. When I was bound to Isaac-“ suddenly something in his stomach soured and Abaddon dry heaved. Isaac had always put a lot of effort into not thinking about that day. Abaddon growled, eyes flashing red like he could simply squash the human feelings in their mind.
“The priest didn’t just want me out of his son, he wanted me dead. To do that he had to bind us body and soul.” Almost like Frankenstein-ed Siamese twins. Abaddon felt their eyes begin to sting. That same gutted mourning that came every time they thought about this festered in his rib cage.
-
Esther reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Abaddon, you don't have to talk about that as-that day." She corrected herself. She didn't know how Isaac felt about the priest, and she kinda didn't want to hurt his feelings.
"I get it, you two are glued together, yeah? So he's still here since his soul can't leave?" That sounded awful. What the fuck was that priest even trying to do where binding a kid to a demon had been part of the equation? No exorcism she had ever found involved binding, so he must have been doing something pretty fucked.
-
Someone reached out and wiggled their hand into Esther’s, someone was crying, but both of them were unable to look at her.
“Jesus was sent as an example to mankind. He showed us… them,” he coughed. “How to expunge a demon from a human host, and it never involved this crap. Demons are not supposed to be killed, the same as angels. We exist as the embodiment of the consequence we- AUGH!”
Abaddon gripped his head and threw it between his knees, coughing up a metaphorical lung. Isaac’s sadness burned through him stronger than any poison and yet. He squeezed Esther’s hand. Centuries of being the only fucked up hybrid he was, and finally there was someone who could understand both sides of him.
“You listen better than most humans we’ve met.”
-
Esther pressed closer, rubbing his back with her free hand. "An exorcism is usually just a kick to the curb, not a full on murder." She agreed, squeezing his hand in kind. She couldn't imagine the back and forthing was very comfortable, or that Abaddon and Isaac liked having to share a probably very cramped vessel.
"Of course I understand. You're my best friend, the better half of my crazy schemes." She patted his back. "And if I didn't understand, I'd listen and research until I did understand, cause that's what friends do Abaddon."
-
Abaddon heaved again as Isaac begged to take over. The human hadn’t fought this much since they’d very first been fuzed, and Abaddon truly had no clue how to give him what he wanted. He gagged on their own emotions as though Isaac was trying to crawl his way out through their stomach.
“Neither of us were ever very good at making friends,” Abaddon laughed. Finally the will of Isaac subsided and Abaddon straightened up to take a deep breath. He wiped his eyes and his mouth and faced Esther, just taking a moment to appreciate his favorite being in all of creation. “Shemon, I believe you have terrible taste in company.” He paused. “Aside from Heather.”
-
Every time he heaved, Esther rubbed his neck and shoulders like her mom used to do when she was young, an intrinsic desire to comfort someone she loved cared about.
"We aren't. But that's what makes us such good friends." She grinned.
"Oi, Demon, I have great taste in friends. You're proof enough." Esther scoffed, then paused thoughtfully. "Although, thanks for reminding me to actually text Heather at some point this week. That's besides the point, I'm still happily your friend. Isaac doesn't change shit, you hear me?" She poked his chest. "Nothing could stop our friendship."
-
His ear flicked as she mentioned her own social shortcomings. Abaddon hadn’t meant ‘we’ to mean him and her. He could feel Isaac retreating back into the corners of their mind. Already tired out from what little talking he’d done, but still giving off waves of sadness.
Life was hard for the weird kid of a small village who was desperate enough to try and befriend a demon.
Abaddon laughed as she poked him, an honest to god laugh and slid in to tug lightly on her ear. “Yeah, I hear you.” His heart softened just looking at her and he couldn’t help the dumb smile on his face
-
"Who knows, maybe I can be friends with Isaac, help make things a little less tense between you two." She offered, laughing when he tugged her ear. Esther reached out, pinching his in kind before ruffling up his hair.
Making friends with Isaac might be a little tricky, but she was willing to work it out if it helped either of them at all. He seemed to be getting through Abaddon enough that they might hold conversation, and Esther was sure he wouldn't want to be afraid or isolated in this day and age if he broke through for any amount of time. Esther leaned against Abaddon, sighing contentedly at the close proximity.
-
Her words spread out in his chest like a warm cup of tea, and he laughed again as she returned his rough housing. He really did love her- Suddenly Abaddon’s heart was in his chest and Esther was far far too close. He jumped back away from her and onto a loose shingle.
With a graceful banshee Shreik he fell off the roof and onto the iron spiked fence around the garden. “Welp,” he said, poking the rod impaling his chest. “That’s gonna ruin my day.”
-
"ABADDON!" Esther leaned over the roof, swearing loudly as she scrambled for the roof hatch. "STAY THERE, I'LL GET THE FIRST AID!" Moments like this really made her glad he was functionally immortal, Esther thought, slamming down the steps. There was an Abaddon specific first aid kit, complete with a roll or two packing tape for really securing those lost limbs when stitching just wasn't enough for the time being. Esther huffed as she lugged it from the cabinet, hauling it downstairs.
~+~
The night finally came and for once Abaddon decided to rest. Losing a shit load of blood and having to recover from impalement was always tiresome. In the mind, now finally quiet, Isaac awoke.
He didn’t know how to over take their body from Abaddon but maybe if he didn’t have to fight the other for it… Slowly, Isaac stretched his consciousness. He remembered having arms and legs but it was all the little fiddly bits in between that he’d forgotten about. Head supported by neck, arms supported by shoulders, legs to hips and all of it meets at the heart.
In the dark of the linen closet Isaac breathed. His chest expanded and contracted. Air smelled different than he remembered. Or maybe that was just his horribly cared for body that reeked. He was definitely going to take this opportunity to shower them both with the fancy modern soaps Abaddon sneered at, but first he had to find Esther. He stood up, reaching for the door knob and promptly ate shit as soon as it opened.
-
Lucky for Isaac, Esther was coming from the kitchen, carrying a glass of water. She jumped when he fell out, laughing breathlessly as she clutched her cup tighter.
"Abaddon, goddamn, you scared the shit out of me." She reached down with her free hand, hoisting him up by the elbow with a grunt. "Still woozy with the bloodloss?" She guessed, taking a sip from her glass. She jutted her weight to one hip, shifting from one foot to the other at the freezing floorboards on her bare feet. It was starting to be that time of year where the Undervale was colder than hell the second the sun set, and she was really regretting not wearing socks or anything on her quick trip to the kitchen.
-
Isaac attempted to raise his body. In the name of the lord, how was moving this difficult? Though, in his defense, the last time he’d moved this body, it had been more than half its current size. His limbs jerked and seized, even as Esther tried to help him up.
She was saying words, though they were not technically to him. He watched her feet dance about and looked down at his own feet, slowly turning red with the irritation of the cold floor, and yet it felt fine. More importantly it felt. he felt! His hands came up to grip Esther’s shoulders, probably leaning too much weight on her and slowly raised his head till their noses nearly touched. His eyes were wide as he took her in and he laughed.
-
"Hi, Abaddon." She blinked, brown eyes nearly obscured by her pupils from how dark the hall was. She started to bend back a bit at how he was leaning on her, readjusting her glass so she didn't spill her water. Esther shivered a little when he laughed, gaze darting over him. Slowly, realization dawned on her face.
"You're...Isaac?" She checked, nose twitching at how close he was to her face. This close she could see practically every detail visible in the low light, and it was kinda weird. But she wasn't going to shove him off. He wasn't hurting her, he was just really close up.
-
Upon hearing his name his face lit up, and gave a laugh bright as a sleigh bell.
“And you’re amazing!” Isaac wore his face completely differently from Abaddon, even when they were both smiling Abaddon’s was mustard yellow and Isaac’s was buttercup yellow. If Abaddon was dark chocolate Isaac was whipped cream.
“Oop,” suddenly his legs gave out and he fell to the floor. That’s ok, his target had already come to him so who needed walking anyway. ““But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection”, “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” Ma’am you are a sight for weary eyes.”
-
Did Isaac realize how creepy he sounded? Esther smiled a little tightly, slowly sitting down. She kept her glass close by, admittedly not above throwing it in Isaac's face if needed.
"I'm not that amazing." She denied. "Just a regular human who does magic."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Isaac. I'm Esther, but you probably already knew that, right?" He must have, given how excited he looked to see her a second ago. "Though, I can't understand why I must be so nice for you to see?"
-
Isaac managed to sit up. “Regular humans are not witches dear.” His eyes seemed to twinkle at her.
“Granted, I have always said that one’s connection to the Heavenly Father is a type of magic, and plenty of priests would perform miracles in his name, but calling it a miracle does not stop it from being magic. Oh to have the faith in one’s self to take helm nurture your being into its fullest form! I do say, the world would be better off had we the sense to avoid the witch hunt! the Lord knows Abaddon tried to save the witches of this town, but he was not very good at it, usually just ended up with us getting burned or drowned again.” Isaac was rambling.
-
Okay so he was a rambler. Definitely a lot different from Abaddon. "I didn't have much faith in myself when I started my magic journey. Hell I still don't." She admitted. "I just hope for the best and desperately hope I'm not gonna blow up."
Esther raised a brow. "Abaddon tried to stop the witch hunts? Huh, he never talked about that before. Granted, he doesn't talk about much of anything from the time when he, well...y'know." She gestured loosely in a way she hoped communicated 'got possessed and irreversibly bound to an ancient all-powerful demon'.
-
Isaac did not pick up on her gestures, even if he had he was far too elated to be in his body again AND talking to their best friend /crush. He stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry.
“Pbth, tell me about it. One hundred time loops with that guy and I still hardly know anything about him. All things considered I think I deserve to be an expert on demonology at this point. If you ever really want to grind his gears just ask him about his fall from heaven-“ Isaac gasped. “I should pray before he wakes up, I haven’t been able to do that since we were bound!”
-
"Woah woah woah, a hundred time loops? Fall from heaven?" That casual information had Esther reeling. She knew about Abaddon going back, but she didn't know how many times. And she had never seen any texts discussing him being a fallen angel! What more didn't she know about Abaddon...?
Esther shook her head. That wasn't Isaac's business to tell or hers to pry. She could ask Abaddon later. "You be safe, praying, okay Isaac?" She stood up, grabbing her glass of water. "If Abaddon's preferred closet's too cramped, you can sleep on the couch." She pointed to the living room, or at least the vague direction of it.
Esther liked Isaac, but it was late and she didn't trust herself not to pry for information or accidentally say anything way too weird or rude like this. "If you're still around, we can talk more during the day, deal?"
-
“Wait!” Isaac’s hand shot out and grabbed Esther’s wrist. He pulled her down with the force a child might need to exert but in an unfamiliar adult body he didn’t know his own strength. But he didn’t know if he’d be able to pull this off again and he needed to tell her!
““My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.” Know this. Know this for him and his -heh- companion,” with an awkward smile he let her go.
-
Esther stumbled down at his yank, water splashing everywhere. She stared in wide eyed confusion at Isaac's words, baffled by what he could even be talking about. What was he talking about? Floods and grace and strength, it all made no sense.
"Uh, right..." She pulled away, standing up again. "Well...thanks for telling me..." Once she was upright, stepped around the puddles of water, then bolted for her room. Esther shut the door harder than she intended, diving under the covers.
-
Isaac watched her go with a wave, only in the wake of her absence did he start to notice the way the cold was biting into his legs. Right then, a quick prayer and he was off to a nice hot bath. He tapped his left shoulder, then right, forehead and then-
“Ouch!” Isaac hissed as his hand came to his stomach and finished the cross, the action igniting a quick sting throughout his body. … his? His body?…
~~
Abaddon awoke in a bathtub full of water that had long since gone cold, and sneezed hard enough to send a snot rocket to the wall.
-
Someone knocked on the bathroom door. "Hey, Abaddon, you in there?" That was Ben calling. "I kinda want to take a shower sometime today man. If it's you in there, you've been holed up in there for hours now."
There was a bit of muffled talking, then Esther's voice came through. "Did Isaac fall asleep in the tub or something? Hey, you okay in there!?" She knocked a lot harder and louder than Ben did.
-
What the hell was going on? Why was he in a tub? Naked??? Abaddon took a moment to sniff himself before recoiling at the fake floral smell. He wasn’t usually unaware in his rest-state unless he’d been particularly fucked up, and mere impalement hardly fit the bill.
Finally he processed what was being said to him. Isaac. “Did you bath the vessel?” He mumbled aloud, though Isaac denied any acknowledgement. Abaddon’s eyes brows knit together as he pulled himself from the water, the bottom half of his hair (and body) still dripping wet as he opened the door.
“Cease the screaming, this is a hotel, there are hundreds of water closets available.” Granted it did seem like Isaac had chosen to steal (”borrow!”) Ben’s fancy soaps. He also seemed to have hidden their clothes from him.
”I did not hide them! They are in the washing machine, thank you for asking!” He rolled his eyes at the noise in his head.
-
Ben did in fact scream when he opened the door, slapping a hand over his eyes. "ABADDON, PANTS!" He pleaded with a loud groan. "For the love of Uncle Nathan, you're in the bathroom I use, with all my stuff in it!" He gestured blindly, nearly smacking his hand into the doorframe. Esther on the other hand cackled when Abaddon opened the door looking like a soaked cat, respectfully only looking him dead in the eyes.
"Holy shit I think you gave Ben a heart attack! Okay, damn, are your clothes in there?" She asked through slowly tapering off laughter. This had to be the funniest wake up call ever to her.
-
Oh right, humans are weird about nudity. Oh well, not his problem. “Evidently not.” He trodded past the siblings and towards the laundry room.
True to Isaac’s word he had put the clothes in the washing machine, and the two of them had enough mutual experience swimming in it as a smaller body that Isaac had successfully activated it. The dryer however was a completely different beast that neither Abaddon nor Isaac knew how to use and thus their clothes sat in the drum of the washing machine, still sopping wet.
Ok maybe now it was his problem. Moreover, what was really concerning was how much Isaac had gotten up to without Abaddon noticing. Abaddon worried his lip as he squatted in front of the washing machine pondering.
-
"Hey, Abaddon, you wanna borrow some of my clothes?" Esther called. "A load of mine are clean in the dryer!" She knew he probably wouldn't care about wearing women's jeans or shirts, and they were roughly close enough it might work. She couldn't help but wonder what happened last night.
Abaddon didn't really bathe unless he dunked in the river, or back when they were younger Katherine would drag him through the bath by putting a salt ring around the tub. Had Isaac done it? Maybe he had started taking a bath then fell asleep? Esther grimaced and shook her head. No point giving herself a migraine trying to figure it out.
-
The demon sighed and rummaged around the dryer for coverage. He eventually settled on a pair of her sweat pants (a little loose in the hips but who gave a shit) and a black tank top that wasn’t quite long enough for his torso. Isaac’s embarrassment rang loud through his head.
”Oh heavens. I take back when I complained about the grave-robbed clothes. If we learn how to use the dryer I won’t let this happen again.”
“Again?” But Isaac’s presence had gone. “You shit, get back here!” But chasing down your brain buddy was easier said than accomplished. Abaddon reemerged, and made his way to the witch. Esther had asked if Isaac had fallen asleep in the tub… “Did you speak with Isaac last night?”
-
"Yeah, I did." She leaned against the doorway. "He seemed really excited to meet me." Esther didn't mention how weird their talk was. "He caught me as I was headed to bed, he said some stuff about how I think he was happy to meet me and how he was going to pray, then we parted ways."
Not the full truth, but not a total lie. Although, speaking of lies… "He mentioned some stuff about you I had never heard of before." Maybe a little blunt, but what about their friendship wasn't? "Stuff about you back then."
-
Abaddon hummed. He had no real fear of Isaac doing anything to Esther. She was a powerful witch after all, and the Gods-child never really held any ill intent. Though the notion of prayer happening while he was still in the body was unnerving.
Abaddon rubbed absentmindedly at their chest. “I swear if that little shit gets one night out and immediately starts dishing out blackmail material I will be eating rocks and going back in the lake.”
-
"No blackmail material, so no need to eat rocks and live in the lake. He just told me about you trying to stop the witch hunts." She promised.
"I had never known you did that." If it was true, which Esther doubted Isaac had lied about it, it was actually very sweet of Abaddon to try and prevent all that needless suffering. "I thought it was really nice of you to try and help those girls."
-
“Mmmmmmmmm,” Abaddon's lips set tight and his face tinted red. “Girls…. Women, men, those whose creation could not be bothered to pick…” the witch hunts had all been senseless cullings of outcasts. Most of them didn’t even practice magic.
“I find my motives less aligned with helping them as it was torturing sinners that dared to wear the mask of holy men.” True to his word, nothing gave Abaddon greater pleasure than spilling the blood of a hypocrite. That being said a fallen who still followed his God given purpose was, well… a bit childish and not something he took pride in.
-
"Did you torture a lot of sinners?" She had another question she was very curious about, but she kept it firmly to herself, not wanting to hurt Abaddon or Isaac with it. It was infuriating to think of how many had been needlessly attacked for no damn good reason, and Esther crossed her arms tight to hide her clenching fists at the thought.
-
Abaddon pinched his eyes shut like that could help him run away from the conversation. “Mmmmm yes. Very common demon pass time, alongside hedonistic temptation.” Oh wait he could literally run away from the conversation. “Anyway I am going back in the chimney.”
From inside his mind Isaac smacked the back of his metaphysical head so hard their real body got a nose bleed. Abaddon stood frozen for a half a second, eyes wide as he processed what just happened. “I am super going back in the chimney now.” He said heading down the hall
-
"Uh, bye? Your nose is bleeding!" Esther called after him. She sighed, rubbing the sides of her arms. It was weird having Abaddon being so evasive now. He had never run from a conversation so many times, and it was starting to sting. Was he running every time Isaac said something? Was she saying something weird? Damnit, she just wanted to help her friend! She left the laundry room, heading up to her room to see if maybe she had a book with any answers about weird demon behavior.
-
For absolutely no reason whatsoever, Abaddon did not actually crawl back up the chimney and instead lay like a plank of wood facedown on the attic floor. If he were being honest, he didn’t actually give all the much of a shit that Isaac was talking to him again. What made his insides turn was the fear of being pushed out of the physical form he was bound to, unable to return to his own.
In turn he could feel Isaac’s fear of what would happen to a 200+ year old human body once the immortal soul left it. There was a strong chance Abaddon was the only thing holding the vessel together.
”Do not worry too much. I still cannot take helm when you are fully mentally present.”
“I know, I can feel your every attempt,” Abaddon spoke to the floor. Isaac must really be separating if he felt the need to explain things to Abaddon.
”Why do you not tell her you love her?”
“You saw what happened the last time I loved…”
-
One floor below them, there was a thud as a heavy book hit the wall. Esther flopped back on her bed, groaning loudly in defeat. Nothing, there had been nothing at all on what might be bothering Abaddon!
She rolled on her stomach, but perked when she saw what page the book had opened on. She snagged the book, reclining back to skim over it. Buried in the back of the book, she might have found what happened to Isaac and Abaddon in the first place. She grimaced at what the work described, shuddering at the thought of having to share a vessel like this. She sat up. But if this was how it happened...was there a way to safely undo it...?
-
Unfortunately moping around could not last forever and Abaddon did want his clothes back so after several hours of Nathan going through the tiniest baby steps in the world on how to operate the dryer, Abaddon was comfortably redressed and off to throw things in the “bottom less” pit in the back courtyard of the hotel.
-
"Abaddon!" Esther sounded a bit out of breath as she hurried into the courtyard. "Abaddon, there you are, I've been looking for you for ages. I have awesome news!" She thrust out the heavy spellbook she had been hauling with her.
"I found the spell that bound you! That's not the good part though!" She started rifling through, jamming her finger on the page victoriously. "Sometimes with spells this old you can treat them like knots and slowly unwork them. It takes time, and a lot of finicky spellwork, but I can try giving this a shot for you and Isaac."
-
”She found the spell? But I thought papa was…Abaddon?” Terror ran the demons blood cold. He scanned the page -still unable to read modern English- but he recognized the symbols. It looked right as far as he could tell. Every emotion known to man clattered at the walls of his skull.
Freedom from the mistake that had been haunting him his whole life, his true form, his magic, his home. The knowledge that Isaac and him had been fused for so long even the cleanest cut would lose some of what he’d come to know as himself and leave him stuck with remnants of the other. Would the vessel fall to its true age if he left it? What had become of his true form after all these years? If he were to give up his life as a demon/human hybrid would he be able to be with Es- Abaddon couldn’t keep the fear from his eyes if he tried. Glowing red and pupils slit like the book might bite him. He took Esther’s hand and tried to remember to speak. “What happens if it doesn’t work?”
-
"Then I think you and Isaac stay stuck. It might work best if we can make sure you have your original form or a new vessel ready during the process." Esther squeezed his hand tightly.
"You don't have to. I just..I want you to be at your happiest, you and Isaac both." She explained, tracing over his knuckles. "No matter what it takes, even if it means spending two weeks reversing the most botched binding ever."
She meant it. She really loved and cherished Abaddon; she'd do anything for his happiness, because it was always worth it to see those rare, genuine smiles on his face.
-
Demons were not supposed to be killed, but in the same vein, demons were not supposed to be cared for either. Fuck, she was addicting to him.
“Why would you do this? Trying to untie a curse this old… forget what happens to us if it doesn’t work, what happens to you Esther?” The stupid ancient relic he’d used for the resets had been broken on his last attempt, if this didn’t work out he couldn’t simply try again.
-
"I might be drained for a bit, but this isn't so hard and old it would kill me." Esther promised. "I think at worst I'll pass out for a day or so." At least, that was her hope.
Spells made in hatred or in that overwhelming parental protection were ugly beasts, ones that did not bend lightly to the hands of a new witch trying to unwind them from the fabric of someone's being. The spells would snap, lash out to keep those wanting to pull them apart away. There was a high chance this was no different, and that it might hurt Esther if she moved too fast or twisted it wrong. But she could handle it. While she wasn't confident in much, she was positive she could handle fixing this.
-
Abaddon worried his lip, his hand squeezing nervously at the tan fingers he held. And underneath that fear he found the overwhelming want for freedom. The want so old and bone deep, he hated the feeling.
Abaddon dropped his head for a moment, and when he lifted it back up he met Esther’s eyes with one blue and one brown iris. “How do we begin?”
”when this is all over… if we get separated… will you tell her then?”
-
"Let's start with safety precautions for you. Do you think you'll go back to your original form if it works? Or do you think you'd have to use another vessel?" The last thing Esther wanted was for Abaddon to get stuck in some weird incorporeal state, or accidentally possess one of her family members.
She softened at the two toned eyes, letting go of his hand to cup his cheek, stroking underneath the blue eye. She'd miss these eyes. The icy blue and the crimson red had become comforting colors for her, the eye colors of her first, and only, true crush.
-
They were far too out in the open to be discussing life altering black magic for his comfort. Keeping her hand in his, Abaddon stood up and began walking them towards the woods, vaguely in the direction of Esther’s magic cave.
“I do not know,” he answered as they walked.
”God should let you return to your true form,” Abaddon gagged.
-
Esther followed after, clutching the book tightly. "Let's have a new vessel nearby then." She decided, reaching out to hold his hand.
"So, what's the gagging? It happened today and yesterday." She pointed out curiously. "Is it Isaac being more alert in the vessel?" That was the only reason she could really think of, Abaddon being discomforted by all the extra rattling on up there.
-
Opening up and being honest about one’s inner turmoil was torture -he was going to have to remember that if he ever regained his old job- but Esther was going far out of her way for them, and the least he could do what be honest.
“Strong disharmony between the mind and body often causes adverse physical reactions.” Abaddon relaxed a little once they were in the shade of the trees. “He keeps speaking of God and it makes me nauseous.” He liked holding her hand… he wanted to keep doing it.
“What vessel do you propose? I am not taking helm in a goose again. I did that in my 3,000th year and it was horrid.”
-
"Ah, that does sound unpleasant." Esther winced. She couldn't imagine being a demon hearing about God so often, that sounded awful. Hopefully, she could put an end to that discomfort.
"No, you're not possessing a goose." Esther promised. "At worst, you might have to possess, I dunno, a corpse? Finding volunteers to get possessed might be tricky." She doubted there were many who would agree to sign up for that.
-
Abaddon burst out laughing. “A corpse, now that is fun. Though not something I can do for very long.” At this point he was just wandering, not actually guiding her anywhere, just walking as an excuse to stay in contact with her.
“What about you?” There was a hint of mischief as his eyes flashed red. “Would you volunteer to let a wretched, damned and even evil soul sit as a passenger in your mind, nestled up next to your every thought?”
-
Esther thought for a bit, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. "Maybe." She finally admitted, slowing her pace. "I mean, I'm not sure you'd want to hear what goes on in my head all the time." Yeah, Abaddon did not need to know how often she thought about him.
"But, I would do it as like, a last resort, no corpses." It would definitely be weird, but she was sure she could handle having Abaddon around if he wanted to be up there...right?
-
“Hmm, as a last resort,” he quoted. “It is a shame I would love to tangled up in your thoughts. As much as anyone would abhor the loss of autonomy, being privy to a mind as intriguing as yours would be a treat.”
”Is this your attempt at flirting?” Abaddon flicked his own forehead and mumbled,
“As if you could execute anything better.”
-
"Please, my mind's not intriguing. It's a mess, and really weird." Esther denied. Her head was full of morbid knowledge, spells, and embarrassing memories. It wasn't any type of interesting.
She laughed a little when he flicked his forehead, shaking her head. "Is Isaac suggesting something wild?" She teased lightly, starting to walk towards her cave again.
-
“I find the best minds frequently are that way. I just happen to prefer yours above any other.” He really was (kinda) flirting. What had gotten into him? Had the situation with the spell created a sense of urgency?
He grimaced at the mention of his head mate. “Respectfully, you would have to knock me out with chloroform or similar narcotic if you want to speak directly with him. I refuse to transcribe his every quip.” He paused.
“That being said I am surprised I am surprised he likes you as much as he does.”
-
"He was really excited to meet me." Esther still didn't understand practically anything Isaac had poetry-riddled at her last night.
"I still think I like you best, no offense to Isaac intended." He seemed like a great guy, honestly, just a bit hard to understand. Nothing wrong with that, just was going to make any sort of communication hard. Her mind drifted from Isaac back to the vessel issue. Besides herself, she could think of only one person who might willingly get possessed, and that was a crazy idea in and of itself.
-
“That is ok, she does not know me as well,” Isaac’s voice came out of Abaddon's mouth. The demon's eyes flew open in tandem with Isaac’s internal shock, and slapped a hand over their mouth. This was getting worse, and far more rapidly than anyone knew how to handle. Suddenly Esther’s scheme seemed more like a Hail Mary.
-
Esther grabbed Abaddon's arm, dragging him into the cave quickly. "Given your face, I get the feeling we need to start this spell sooner rather than later." Damnit, she really would have appreciated more time to plan out what she was going to do, but her fifteen minutes with the book would have to be enough if it really was a problem. Coming into her cave, she nudged him to sit in a rickety chair as she spread out the book on a table.
"You think Isaac's gonna be able to handle being in complete control of the vessel after so long?"
-
Abaddon thought, “I thought you said you couldn’t take helm when I was conscious?”
“It felt like you were the one who spoke my words just now.”
Abaddon let himself be led, sitting numbly in the chair. Internally he searched around to see if he could feel what the fuck was going on.
“Isaac’s essence is not immortal. Without demon magic in this vessel, there is a chance it will simply return to the earth.”
”It will be quite anti-climactic if I get my body back only for it to wither to dust and make me a ghost. I do believe I have a large amount of unfinished business…”
-
"And if he's got unfinished business he might come back as a ghost." Esther hummed, flipping through the pages. "But don't forget that body's also being supported by my magic from when I aged you up, so he might be fine."
God this spell needed some weird stuff. The demon's sigil on the floor, a knife, blood of a male virgin [since when did magic need those?!] and the weirdest of all, running water collected backwards. She sighed, rummaging through her supplies.
"Abaddon, you ever heard of anything requiring the virgin blood of a guy?" She called over her shoulder, grabbing a can of spray paint. If the spell was serious, Esther dreaded the thought of asking the only living guy she knew if being a conduit still made him a virgin. It made her shudder as she sprayed Abaddon's sigil on the floor.
-
”Does she have your sigil memorized? Why is our heart speeding up?!”
“In my experience magic cares not for one’s genitals. Unless the user in question is working with a deity or being who happens to care,” there were beings who refused to come into contact with anything pertaining to one gender or the other but so long as the blood was truly virgin.
“I am not interested in sitting around while you do all the work. What can I do?” Not like he could read the book to find out.
-
"I need running water collected backwards. I bet if you get water from the river by scooping upstream it'll count." Esther held out a jar to him.
"Once you get the water, come back and help me find a knife." She stepped back from the sigil, looking satisfied with the result.
"Well, I'm sure Ben is gonna love being called for me just to use his blood." She snorted, digging through her pockets for her cell phone.
-
Abaddon took the jar and dug around in his pants pocket before producing a pocketknife and passing it to Esther.
”Is Esther not a virgin?” Wouldn’t you like to know weather boy Abaddon pointedly ignored the others ponderings and made his way towards the river
-
Esther smiled at the pocketknife, rubbing over the edge as she called Ben, explaining she needed his help with something.
"It's not a Dan situation again, right?" He asked warily.
"No, Jesus. Listen, just come help me okay?" Esther rolled her eyes.
"Fine, fine. I'm coming." Ben was rightfully wary as he came into the cave, but he still trusted his sister.
"I need some of your blood, don't ask why."
"You're so weird." He still rolled up his sleeves and leaned against the table, both of them waiting for Abaddon to return.
-
“Do you really think we will finally be able to go our separate ways?”
“I find doubting Esther a stupid choice.”
“Will you miss me?”
“Hardly,”
“hahah, you are still a terrible liar,”
Abaddon returned the jar in one hand, the other acting as sacrificial fingers to his teeth as he bit just to feel the body around him.
-
"Abaddon, you okay?" Esther took the jar, looking worried about the way he had latched onto his hand like a pitbull.
She set it with the pocketknife, right beside the book. She reached up, tentatively tapping on his wrist before holding it, gently pulling his hand from his mouth.
-
Pain had always been a good grounding mechanism, but as Ethers hands found his -her fingers chilled with the late autumn weather- he realized that was just as good. He wanted her to keep touching him.
Abaddon had already made the choice of the Freeling’s over his home, why was this stupid ultimate coming back?
“You have my sigil memorized?”
“If you ever wish for me to return, know that you will need to summon me as I cannot physically pass between worlds on my own.”
-
"Of course I have it memorized." She squeezed his hand tightly. She had memorized it years ago, committing every stroke and dot to memory.
"I'd summon you a thousand times over just to see you again." Esther swore, chest tight with the thought that she might not be able to see him as easily anymore. She had gotten used to him just being there, a presence she could never shake.
-
”Ok, in an attempt to not make you gag or jump away from her, I am going to mentally hold our hands when I say this: … Kiss her?” Abaddon coughed up blood.
“Ok, let us get this thing started. I do not know how much more ‘advice’ I can stomach from someone who still thinks they can flirt using scripture,”
-
"Right, sit in the middle of your sigil, take off your shirt." She directed, reluctantly letting go of his hand.
Esther grabbed the jar and book, reading from it as she maneuvered Ben's arm over the jar and sliced his forearm shallowly, watching the blood drip in and mingle with the water. Ben wisely backed up when she was done with him, watching as she swirled the jar. She looked back to Abaddon, holding it tightly.
"Last chance to nope out of this." She warned. "You ready?"
-
“My departure from this child is long over due, and it is not as if I will ever come across a witch I trust as much as you,” he announced as he moved to sit. He paused.
“Isaac is ready as well.” Though he left out the animalistic fear that serpentine around them.
-
"Right." Esther inhaled slowly, steadying herself. It would be fine. It wouldn't backfire. She hefted the book, starting to speak the faded Latin as she carefully poured the combined blood and water around the sigil.
"Hanc animam mixtam sume et pure finde. Additiones evolve, attritus remove. Detrimenta repara et ea omnino separa." Esther emptied the last of the jar, stepping back. "Relinque hoc vas et esto iterum integer." She closed the book, watching him with her fingers crossed that it would work.
-
Esther’s magic filled his lungs like incense. Abaddon closed his eyes as her power seeped into his core through every nook, cranny and crack he had. True to her word, it did feel like loosening a knot, or working through a seized muscle, except just on his soul. A rare place to be touched in the first place Abaddon sighed (perhaps a bit more erotically than intended)
“Getting aroused by witchcraft is a bit much.”
You get aroused by collar bones you can fuck off.
“I will say if she does manage to pull this off it will be a Divine act of God that she has blessed us with.”
“Stop talking about God,” Abaddon hissed quietly. He’d never bothered to ask, but he was pretty sure Esther was a pagan witch.
-
"Isaac, Abaddon, just let the spell work." Esther chewed on her lip, starting to pace around the sigil a bit nervously.
"It should finish soon, I can feel it pulling." If it worked, theoretically it would just be Isaac standing before her and Abaddon would return to Hell. If it didn't work...there were a thousand different things that might happen to the two of them. Whatever happened though would surely be better than the current predicament.
-
Slowly Abaddon began to feel the spell working. His own essence becoming lighter as it lost its tether to the body, and Isaac’s essence filling out his form again.
The eyes of the body returned to their original brown and Isaac gasped like he’d just swum from the deep ocean. “It is working!” He shouted in joy, his hand coming up to his bare chest, feeling the scar. “Ah bless are father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name-“ Suddenly the body spasmed, Abaddon’s tails and horns ripping out of the body as he bent over to heave blood, eyes a warning red.
“FUCKING STOP, for gods- for my- AUGH for YOUR SAKE ISAAC!” The body seized again and fell completely over when abruptly a third arm ripped out of their back.
-
"Oh, that's not what was supposed to happen." Esther flipped through the book, abandoning it to grab another book.
"Fuck, guys? Just, try not to freak out too much! That might make it, well, worse!" She heaved a bit at the third arm, distantly hearing Ben hit the ground behind her. She wasn't having much luck on answers, left to haplessly watch whatever sort of magical abomination was being created in front of her eyes with that worry and resignation one only gets being in their twenties as a well seasoned witch.
-
An emotionally constipated demon and a puritan who hadn’t attempted emotional regulation since he was 8. Calming down was not their strong suit.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Isaac cried through the pain, now undiluted by Abaddon being in front. “All I have is my faith, my faith in God and you!” Isaac clasped his hands together and another arm ripped out of his back.
Abaddon couldn’t tell if he was pushing away from Isaac or being pulled by something. He forced his voice through their mouth. “Esther, do NOT stop!” He had no idea what would happen if they didn’t ride out the spell to completion.
-
"I won't stop, I swear!" The only way this could be stopped now was if she destroyed the sigil and line surrounding it, and she didn't want to do that at all. When the second arm came out, she had an idea. A crazy one, but a possible one.
"Wait, wait I think it's literally splitting you two apart! It's not removing Abaddon or any binding, it's splitting you two into two separate, whole beings!"
-
“Fuck you had better hope so!” Not that he could concentrate on much other than his being getting torn in two but Abaddon did have better control over one set of arms than the other.
An idea flashed through Isaac’s mind. With a shaky use of the front hands he crossed their torso, the action alone burning him in a way that made him erupt in tears. Their back bulged like a cicada coming out of its shell. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me. O Lord, whose mercy endureth though we fall, forgive the trespasser and the trespassed alike. Let no sin take root where pity might grow, and teach our hearts to pardon as Thou hast pardoned us. Lord forgive the demon Abaddon!”
Finally a head, neck and shoulders ripped out of the cut in their back and out came a naked and bloody identical copy of Isaac’s body. The two lay for a moment, panting, coughing and shivering.
-
Esther would later commend herself for not hurling at the scene straight from a horror movie. Right now, she was swearing and yanking off her jacket, throwing it over the naked body.
"Holy shit, that was not the plan." She muttered, darting around to look for any clothes or even towels to sop up the blood. And maybe a first aid kit if that massive cut wasn't going to handle itself. She finally was able to give them both a ragged towel, kneeling with a well packed first aid kit.
"How are you two feeling?" She asked hesitantly, shuffling around to look at Isaac's back.
-
“Like I have just been birthed out of a spine,” Abaddon groaned. Being covered in blood was not new for sure, but being naked in the woods while also covered in blood was rarely a good thing and he gratefully accepted the jacket. It certainly smelled much nicer than the metallic stench.
“I feel as though I have just participated in the miracle of life.” Isaac said in a daze, his voice horse. “When I do pass on I will need to apologize to my mother.”
Abaddon reached to hold Esther’s wrist, his body still wrought with tremors and eyes pinched shut. “How are you feeling?”
-
"Worn out." As the adrenaline was starting to wear off, Esther was definitely starting to shake a little as the drain of magic crept up her spin in that exhausting, uncomfortable way. She needed to push through it though, at least until Abaddon and Isaac were okay.
She rubbed the towel over Isaac's back, quickly covering it in gauze and wrapping it securely to prevent more blood from spilling everywhere. "I mean, it doesn't look like Isaac is turning to dust." She mentioned, patting his shoulder soothingly. "You two kinda look like twins." Esther noticed, snickering a little. They did look identical, hopefully though they'd have ways Esther could tell them apart when they weren't soaked in blood.
-
Abaddon recovered the quickest, managing to push himself up on shaking arms. He placed a hand on his chest, the same human-style chest he’d grown so accustomed to, but this time there was no rough scar tissue under his fingers.
Isaac laughed and attempted to sit up, “I always wanted a broth~er…” his voice trailed off and his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell to the ground unconscious.
“… So what are we going to do with this guy now?” Abaddon asked casually.
-
"Drag him back to the hotel?" Esther suggested, trying really hard not to stare at Abaddon. Could she be blamed though, she still had a crush on him and he was naked except for her jacket.
She sat back on her heels, sighing heavily as the exhaustion started to seep into her bones. The worst part of magic was always how hard it could wear on her, and this spell was no different. She braced her weight on her palms, trying to get her bearings back.
-
Abaddon placed a hand on her back. “You did wonderful,” his voice deep with sincerity.
“Truly we should have a feast to celebrate your triumph, a feast of the … charioted unleavened bread with the tomatoes and cheese,” he had no idea what to call the pizza delivery.
He managed to get his feet under him and offered a hand to help Esther up. “I will take Isaac to the river to be cleansed. Are we to wake Ben or is he going to lay unconscious in the mouth of your cave a while longer?”
-
Esther flushed at the praise, smiling at Abaddon. "Thanks. It definitely feels worth it."
The result hadn't been planned, but it was still better than before. She let herself lean against Aabaddon's hand for just a second, relishing the touch.
"I'll wake him." She hoisted herself up with a grunt. "Don't accidentally drown Isaac, okay?" Half a tease, half an actual warning. The last thing she wanted was for the poor guy to die right after getting his body back.
She headed over to Ben, shaking his shoulder until he sat up. "C'mon, let's get back to the hotel." She looked back at Abaddon. "I'll have pizza and clothes waiting for you when you get back from the river with Isaac, okay?"
-
Abaddon nodded and willed the strength into his legs to hoist Isaac up on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
~+~
The river was immensely cold, somehow even more cold now that they were separated. Abaddon knelt on the smoothed river stones and used the towel Esther had draped over them to wash himself and then Isaac’s back.
For a moment Isaac opened his eyes, and mumbled. ““I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”” And promptly passed back out again.
Abaddon reminded himself of Esther’s direct instruction not to drown him as he continued to gently clean the blood off them.
~+~
By the time they were back at the hotel Isaac was managing to walk with his arm slung over Abaddon’s shoulder, though he could manage little else.
-
When they got back, Esther was sprawled out over a couch, a few boxed pizzas sitting beside a folded pile of clothes on the coffee table. She turned to look at them, grinning broadly.
"You both survived!" She joked, raising victorious hands as she sat up. "The clothes are mine and Ben's something in there should fit you Abaddon." She gestured to the clothes, opening the boxes. "And I got sausage pizza, figured we couldn't go wrong with that."
-
Abaddon had walked in with the wet and blood stained towel wrapped around his waist and Esther’s (now equally wet and bloodied) jacket on his shoulders. The den they had found Esther in was blessedly small and dimly lit. The demon shuffled over to the couch, grabbed the cushions off the seat and back and threw them in front of the fireplace. He held his hand out to the logs in the heart “Exfeirose,” And set them a blaze.
Isaac was laid down in his wet clothes on top of the cushions to sleep and dry by the fire. Abaddon lugged his own body back to standing and shlepped closer to Esther. He plopped down on the floor and leaned his head against her knees.
“Your gestures are noticed and appreciated.” His tongue felt like lead, and his head a goldfish bowl propped up on spaghetti noodles. “At this time I cannot…” his words fell to a halt. Speaking was far too difficult, and unneeded when all he really wanted was closeness and warmth.
-
She reached down, carding her hand through his hair. "We don't have to talk." She promised, her own voice quiet with exhaustion. "We can just sleep." Yeah, sleep sounded really nice.
It was comfortably dim, and the warmth of the fireplace was soothing on her aching body. Esther took her hand from his hair and slipped off the couch, settling against Abaddon's side and curling up. This was nice too, he was comfortable despite how lanky he was. She settled her face in his neck, sighing heavily with comfort as she tangled her fingers with his, squeezing his hand gently.
-
Seeking comfort was a strange instinct. He had assumed he would be free of it when he lost Isaac and yet had anyone attempted to remove him or Esther from this moment he would have yowled louder than an angry cat and maybe cursed their entire blood line. Perhaps he was just stuck with a few left over human emotions.
As they lay in comfortable silence, another strange sensation he hadn’t felt since he was in his own body started to creep in. Hunger. Abaddon clicked his tongue, he should’ve grabbed a squirrel or wild dog when they were in the woods, he had been undergoing a truly ridiculous amount of blood loss recently.
His brain felt foggy. Now that the adrenaline of fear that no one was losing their tether to this mortal plane was gone he was starting to get loopy. Without much thought, Abaddon took Esther’s hand and licked her fingers.
-
Esther laughed, scooting closer. "Why're you licking me?" She muttered. "If you're hungry, we've got pizza." She pointed out, still smiling as she ran through his hair with her free hand. She didn't pull her hand back, tilting her head to watch him with half open eyes.
He was here, and himself again. She wondered if he would have horns and tails and talons more like this, if this form was just as restrictive as being in Isaac. "How does this all feel?" She asked softly, slowly working a braid into his hair.
-
Words were still hard to speak, and processing them wasn’t much easier. Abaddon took her fingers fully in his mouth and sucked on them, running his forked tongue along and in the webbing between. She tasted like salt, sweat and garlic.
“Empty,” he sighed once he’d had enough of her fingers. He kept her hand in his and pulled to bite at her wrist. Gently at first, just holding the skin between his teeth, then as his fangs came out he bit harder.
-
Esther groaned a little at the bite, but didn't protest. "Empty? In a bad way, or a finally not having to share your vessel way?"
The way his teeth dragged over her skin wasn't awful, but it was definitely a new feeling. She reached over and grabbed his hand, nipping his wrist in return. She dug her canines in, trying to mimic how he was biting her. She doubted it was the same, but still she wanted to do it, for honestly no reason.
-
Lord have mercy he wanted her so bad and his brain was too fried to remember any of the reasons why he might not have told her.
Abaddon pushed against her till they were chest to chest, one hand on the floor as he leered over her, the other caressing her neck. He still had yet to change out of the unzipped jacket and towel acting as his garments, but that hardly mattered. The only thing his brain could be bothered to think was how much he needed her, and how much he needed to eat. Abaddon licked up the column of her neck and bit down, giving off a rumbling sigh of contentment.
-
Her face flushed bright red at how Abaddon leaned so heavily over her, breath hitching as he caressed her neck. She swallowed, tipping her head back to let him hold her neck easier. She groaned loudly when he bit down, hand flying up to grab his shoulder as she shuddered.
"Abaddon, fuck!" She hissed, digging her nails into the jacket. Her jacket her brain helpfully supplied as she nearly ripped the fabric. Abaddon had never been bitey with her, maybe nipping her once in a blue moon. The full on vampire to the neck, that was definitely new, and it ached a bit.
"Abaddon, hey, you good up there?" She hissed out, stilling in confusion when she heard him start rumbling.
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He’d lost so much blood these past few days and he was so hungry and he needed Esther. The next step seemed logical to his idled brain. Abaddon bit down until he pierced the jugular, his tongue nursing over the wound and coaxing more blood out as he sucked. He groaned in relief at the first swallow.
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Esther gasped at the sharp pain, fear starting to kick up as she thought about where her friend had just bit. She couldn't see where Abaddon was biting, but that hurt in a way that surely spelled trouble, given the veins right there.
"Abaddon, what are you doing?" She asked sharply, starting to push against him. Who knows how strong he was, and if she could even dislodge his weight from her. Esther yelped at the extremely weird feeling of him sucking on the wound he had created, squirming underneath him.
"Dude, you're not supposed to bite humans like this!" She snapped, pushing against him again.
-
Demons didn’t need to drink blood to survive like vampires did but a little hit here and there certainly helped. He pulled his teeth back but kept his lips wrapped around her neck sucking hard almost in a silent beg. The hand on her neck rubbed affectionately and slid up into her hair to caress her scalp, as Abaddon continued to lean into her.
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Esther was almost fully pressed to the floor by now, pinned by his lanky body. "Abaddon, come on, this isn't cute." She stressed, not enjoying how she was starting to get a bit woozy. Turns out, humans didn't do well when you sucked blood from their neck. Who'd have thunk? Internal sarcasm aside, Esther was not sure how she was going to get out of this without going the way of Uncle Nathan.
"Come on, rubbing my hair's not gonna make me like this anymore." She groaned, jerking at the hard suck. "Fuck, that feels weird!"
-
Abaddon took a deep breath through his nose at his last gulp, a blue light illuminated his veins as his body equalized as his magic settled. He pulled back, breathing hot against her neck and licking it once more before mumbling some enchantment to close the wound.
Yet he didn’t back up, he returned to licking lazily at her neck. The hand holding him up decided it was much better off touching Esther’s waist and lower back.
-
She sagged down in relief, sighing heavily. At least she wasn't bleeding anymore, wriggling one hand out to set it on Abaddon's back. Slowly, she started to rub over his back, gaze flicking over his glowing veins.
"Abaddon..." She started slowly. "What the actual hell was that?" She shifted as he cupped her waist, not quite pulling away. This entire ordeal had been so weird, and she was really hoping for an answer now that he wasn't attached to her neck by the teeth.
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Its head was starting to clear but his thoughts still lagged through layers of exhausted mental molasses. He really didn’t want to do anything other than snuggle her and put her in his mouth.
“I bit you.” That’s what the hell it was. “Also borrowed blood. Uh can have it back later f’you want,” Abaddon laid his full weight on her, nuzzling her neck and rubbing lovingly any part of her his hands came across.
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Esther stared at the ceiling, slowly trying to make sense of that. "You borrowed my blood." She muttered, shaking her head.
"How is that not the absolutely weirdest thing I've ever heard?" She let him lay across her, pulling out her other arm to rub the back of his neck. "Listen, just ask next time you need blood? Didn't appreciate the whole non-consenting leech bit you pulled on me." She warned.
-
“Apologies. I am not used to being this weakened, nor having to care for an additional body.” As much as the two had well in truly been split, Abaddon couldn’t help but feel lingering connection and responsibility for him.
“I am glad to remain in the same plain as you, and for all its troubles, I am glad to remain in a body that matches yours,” he murmured with his eyes closed. He was definitely starting to fall asleep. As he drifted off his voice came hardly more than a whisper “Set me as steal upon the heart… f’love s’as strong as death.” He really wasn’t aware of what he was saying. Just a force of habit that wasn’t his. “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”
-
Esther's face was hot enough she was a little surprised she wasn't melting. She cradled him closer, mulling over what he said. 'I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine?' Was...was Abaddon confessing to loving her? That made her grin, fingers drumming on his back as she settled underneath him.
"I'm glad to be in the same plane as you as well." She murmured, letting herself nuzzle against his neck as she closed her eyes to sleep off the remaining exhaustion.